Mechanical handling apparatus for reclaiming material from a stockpile

ABSTRACT

A stockpile drum reclaiming machine is operable in either direction has a twelve faced drum carried on a gantry provided with wheeled bogies running on rails over the length of the stockpile. The faces are arranged in pairs each pair with an interior angle of 165° and a T-section member positioned externally along the arris to form opposed blind pockets during reclaiming, the drum may be rotated and moved in either direction and alternative transfer conveyors carried on an arcuate beam rotatable through a restricted arc are positionable to receive reclaimed material thrown clear of the drum after having been carried over in the appropriate pockets. Oscillatable luffable harrows are provided to each side of the drum and are positionable to engage the stockpile being reclaimed.

This invention relates to mechanical handling apparatus adapted toreclaim material from a stockpile of material such as iron ore or coal.

Previous mechanical handling apparatus adapted to reclaim material froma stockpile have included a rotatable cylindrical drum some six metersor more in diameter provided with external bucket scoops and mounted ona support structure or gantry running on rails each side of thestockpile. With advancement of the gantry and rotation of the drum thebucket scoops are moved through the material to load the material intothe bucket scoops and, with continued rotation, discharge the materialeither through apertures in the drum to a conveyor extending through theinterior of the drum or, as in GB Patent Specification No. 1,326,340,over an outside surface of the bucket scoop next adjacent in thedirection of rotation onto a conveyor extending alongside and parallelto the axis of the drum.

The bucket scoops by their form, can only operate in one direction ofrotation. This has the result that the reclaimer can operate only in onedirection of movement of the gantry and thus requires that a clear plotof land of size equivalent to the size of the stockpile be providedadjacent the stockpile to permit return of the gantry to the initial endof the stockpile, or to an adjacent stockpile, after transfer to a setof rails running over the clear plot.

Furthermore, bucket scoops require the positioning of relatively complexstructures on the cylindrical drum, which structures are liable to wearfrom abrasion arising both from movement into the stockpile and fromdischarge of material with a sliding motion either through the aperturesin the drum or over the outside surface of the bucket scoop nextadjacent in the direction of rotation onto a conveyor extendingalongside and parallel to the axis of the drum.

It is an object of the invention to provide a mechanical handlingapparatus adapted to reclaim material from a stockpile of a simplifiedconstruction capable of operation in both directions and having a scooparrangement less liable to suffer abrasion than the previousarrangement.

According to the present invention there is provided mechanical handlingapparatus adapted to reclaim material from a stockpile including arotatable cylindrical drum mounted on a support structure or gantryrunning on rails each side of the stockpile in which the supportstructure or gantry is traversable in either direction over the lengthof the stockpile and carries first and second transfer conveyorsrespectively extending at each side of the drum parallel to the axisthereof and the drum rotatable in either direction and is provided withblind scoops or pockets open in opposed directions, such that the blindscoops or pockets open in one direction serve with clockwise rotation ofthe drum to scoop material from a first portion of the stockpile to oneside of the drum and, upon further clockwise rotation of the drum,discharge the material therefrom to the first transfer conveyor at theside of the drum remote from the first portion of the stockpile and theblind scoops or pockets open in the other direction serving withanti-clockwise rotation of the drum to scoop material from a secondportion of the stockpile to the side of the drum remote from the secondportion and, upon further anti-clockwise rotation of the drum, dischargethe material therefrom to the second transfer conveyor.

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with referenceto the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a blending, drum reclaimer machine;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the machine; and

FIG. 3 is a portion of FIG. 1, to an enlarged scale.

Referring to the drawings, the support structure or gantry includes abridge box girder 2 supported on a pair of end frames 4, 6 mounted onfour powered, articulated bogies 8 running on rails 10 extending thelength of a stock yard. The bridge box girder 2 is rigidly secured toone end frame 4 and pivotably mounted on the other end frame 6 toaccommodate minor discrepancies encountered during motion of thereclaimer along the rails 10. A control cabin 12 is mounted on thebridge box girder 2 and is equipped to permit drive of the drumreclaimer machine in either direction. The drum 14 is formed with closedend walls 16 carrying shafts supported in spherical roller bearings inhousings 18, 20 respectively mounted at one end on the end frame 4rigidly connected to the bridge box girder and at the other end on aframework 22 suspended from the bridge box girder.

A pair of platforms 24, 26 are carried on the ends of a framework formedby arcuate I-beams 28. The arcuate beams extend over slightly in excessof 180° of arc and are supported on rollers 30 mounted on arms 32 on thesupporting structure such that the arcuate beams 28 are rotatablethrough a limited arc about the drum axis. Rack gearing (not shown) ismounted on the arcuate beams and meshes with pinions rotation of whicheffects rotation of the arcuate beams between, for each end of the beam,an operational position and a raised position. The platforms 24, 26,which extend over the width of the supporting structure are positionedat the two ends of the arcuate beams such that when the respective endof the arcuate beam is in the operational position the associatedplatform extends horizontally. Each platform 24, 26 carries a transferconveyor 34, 36 extending parallel to the drum axis and a shield 38, 40having a deflector portion 42, 44 arranged to direct material toward theconveyor and a curved portion 46, 48 directing material back to the footof the stockpile. Further shields 50, 52 are provided to the sides ofthe conveyors remote from the drum.

Harrows 54, 56 are provided on each side of the drum, and are connectedto the bridge box girder with struts 58, 60 pivoted on the bridge boxgirder and are supported at their outer ends by ties 62, 64 connectedthrough pulley blocks and cables 66, 68 running upwardly to winches 70,72 on the bridge box girder for luffing the harrows. Articulated drives(not shown) are provided to the two harrows to effect lateraloscillation thereof to rake material from the face of the stockpile tothe base thereof.

The drum is formed with six pairs of flat faces 74, 76, the includedangle between the pairs of faces being approximately 165° and theincluded angle between adjacent faces of adjacent pairs beingapproximately 130°. Strips 78 are welded to the external arrises betweenthe faces of the pairs of faces and are braced at spaced intervals withwebs 80 extending in radial planes perpendicular to the strips.T-Section bars 82 are located with flange portions 84 extendingtangentially and are bolted through rib portions 86 thereof to thestrips 78 welded to the arrises to form pairs of opposed blind scoops orpockets 88, 90 on the surface of the drum. Since the T-Section bars 82are bolted to the strips 78 replacement upon wear is thereby facilitatedand does not involve the fabrication of complex structures.Alternatively, the whole structure of the scoops and even adjacentportions of the drum may be made replaceable, although this mightcomplicate replacement.

Reclaiming conveyors 92, 94 (shown in outline) are positioned to eitherside of the reclaimer machine and extend parallel to the rails 10 overthe length of the stockyard.

In operation, to reclaim material, such as iron ore or coal, from astockpile 96, the drum reclaimer machine is advanced slowly into thestockpile, by driving the bogies 8, with the harrow 54 at the leadingside of the drum reclaimer lowered to engage the face of the stockpileand the conveyor 34 at the leading side positioned at the raisedposition clear of the harrow and the stockpile. The leading harrow isoscillated to deliver material to the foot of the stockpile and the drumrotated to move the pockets 88 upwardly through the base portion of thestockpile. Material is carried upwardly in the advancing pockets 88 ofthe pairs of opposed pockets and over the top of the drum to dischargedownwardly clear of the preceding pockets 88 and 90 and onto theconveyor 36 at the trailing side of the drum. Any material not fallingon to the conveyor is directed by the curved plate 48 back to the footof the stockpile. The conveyor is driven to discharge in turn to eitherthe reclaiming conveyor 92 or the reclaiming conveyor 94.

Upon reaching the end of the stockpile, instead of moving the drumreclaimer laterally to another, parallel, set of rails at an adjacentstockpile, the drum reclaimer machine may work in the opposite directionon the rails it is already on to reclaim from a stockpile deposited orstocked in the wake of the first run of the reclaimer by a separatestocking conveyor. To advance the drum reclaimer in the oppositedirection, the cable winch 70 of the harrow 54 that was in the operatingposition is actuated to raise that harrow, the rack and pinion gear areactuated to rotate the arcuate beams 28 and move the platforms such thatthe platform 24 that was in the raised position is lowered to theoperational position and the other platform 26 is rotated to the raisedposition and the cable winch 72 of the harrow which was in the raisedposition is actuated to lower that harrow. The bogies 8 and the drum 14are then driven in the opposite direction to the direction in the firstrun and the reclaimer operates as previously with the pockets 90 of thepairs of pockets not previously utilised carrying the material upwardlyand over the top of the drum to the conveyor 34.

The stockyard may be relatively long and narrow with a single set ofrails 10 extending the length of the yard, a boom stacking machinerunning on rails to one side of the yard, or, alternatively the yard maybe of sufficient width to accommodate two parallel sets of rails 10 witha boom stacking machine running on rails between adjacent rails of thetwo sets. In the latter case, a transfer track extending perpendicularto the rails 10 is provided at the middle or ends of the stockyard, orboth, and jacking means are provided on the machine such that on urgingthe jacks downwardly, the bogies may be swung through 90° to engage thetransfer track the machine being lowered to permit lateral transfer ofthe machine from one set of rails to the other set and then raised andlowered again to position the bogies on the other set of rails. Theharrows 54, 56 and the platforms 24, 26 are then positioned appropriateto the direction of reclaiming movement required and the drives to thebogies and drum energised as necessary.

I claim:
 1. A mechanical handling apparatus for reclaiming material froma stockpile including a wheeled frame moveable on rails extending toeach side of the stockpile; a support structure mounted on said wheeledframe; drive means for traversing the wheeled frame in either directionalong the rails; a rotatable cylindrical drum mounted on the supportstructure and provided with a plurality of blind scoops each open inopposed directions for scooping material from the stockpile; first andsecond transfer conveyors mounted on the support structure and extendingto each external side of the drum in a direction parallel to the axis ofrotation thereof, for receiving material discharged from the blindscoops; means for angularly displacing of the first and second conveyorsto move the conveyors independently between an operative position andraised position such that when one conveyor is in the operative positionto receive material from the blind scoops the other conveyor is in theraised position clear of the stockpile; and means for rotating the durmsuch that the blind scoops open in one direction serving with clockwiserotation of the drum to scoop material from a first portion of thestockpile to one side of the drum; and upon further clockwise rotationof the drum discharge the material therefrom to the first transferconveyor at the side of the drum remote from the first portion of thestockpile and blind scoops open in the opposed direction serving withanti-clockwise rotation of the drum to scoop material from a secondportion of the stockpile to the side of the drum remote from the secondportion and, upon further anti-clockwise rotation of the drum, dischargethe material therefrom to the second transfer conveyor.
 2. A mechanicalhandling apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the means for alteringthe angular displacement of the first and second conveyors includesarcuate beams carried on rollers.
 3. A mechanical handling apparatus asclaimed in claim 1 wherein the drum includes a plurality of flat facesconnected together in pairs with the included angle between the faces ofa pair being greater than the included angle between adjacent faces ofadjacent pairs of faces; and a plurality of opposed blind scoops formedby strips connected to the arrises between the faces of the pairs offaces which extend radially outwardly and which are braced with webs atspaced intervals having tangentially extending strips.
 4. A mechanicalhandling apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein the tangentiallyextending strips are each formed by a flange portion of a T section bar,a corresponding web portion thereof being connected to the strips weldedto the arises.
 5. A mechanical handling apparatus as claimed in claim 4wherein the web portions of the T section bars are connected by bolts tothe strips welded to the arises.
 6. A mechanical handling apparatus asclaimed in claim 1 wherein first and second harrow means for agitatingthe surface of the stockpile are mounted on the support structure,either side of the drum, said harrows being respectively supported frompivotable connections on the support structure by struts pivoted on thesupport structure and connected through cables and pulley blocks towinches actuable to luff the harrows.